Letters to the editor

I’ve just heard the news that the McKenzie Hospital will be closing soon. This news is devastating to our county and our community, where the next nearest hospital is in Huntingdon. Yet while our resources and emergency services are sent to the next county, people here in McKenzie continue to need care. Women are still going to have babies, accidents are still going to happen, and people are still going to get sick. For some of us, going to a hospital 40 minutes down the road just isn’t an option. We need our leaders to step up and solve this problem, both at the state and federal level. we need senators who are going to fix things like the Affordable Care Act, to actually bring down premiums and prescription drug costs, and not let people go bankrupt because they have a medical emergency. Phil Bredesen has a huge background in health care, from building a health care company from his kitchen table, to solving TennCare’s budget issues when he was governor. And he was among the Affordable Care Act’s biggest critics when it was first signed into law in 2010. He knows how to tackle big issues like health care, and bring people together to get things done for Tennessee. His proven track record can bring back dividends for people here in McKenzie to get health care providers to reinvest in our community and bring back access to quality care. That’s why I’m voting for Phil Bredesen for U.S. Senate on Nov. 6.

Charlie Dyer

Jackson

Voters: Keep church, state separate

The founding fathers were very specific about separating church and state. All of you voting for candidates based on personal religious beliefs are not understanding how government is run.

I am a woman with two daughters and one granddaughter. As such, I beseech all you old guys to remove yourselves from our collective uteri. It is not your business.

Think about what makes us great as a country. It certainly is not Donald Trump. We have always worked together to make this country fair and equal for all citizens.

I think we should come together for the common good like we have always done. That is when we are strongest.

We are a country of immigrants.

Donna Boren

Jackson

Williams wrong on hate speech

Freedom today is being redefined to reshape our economy so some at the top can become wealthier, enjoying the vulture lifestyle draining the remainder of the population of its labor and taxes. The freedom to reshape our land so that some may pollute it more and gain from it rather than have our children enjoy it; soak its wealth out, gathering what they can today, not caring about tomorrow. That this might violate values we were just beginning to understand means nothing to these new framers of our freedoms because, simply put, we’ve asked them to do this — just enough of us, out of desperation.

But enough of us are responding differently out of desperation, and people like Walter Williams think this counter-response is “evil.” Some on the left naively forgo their own values about freedom of speech. However, do not forget what “hate speech” means and what it entails. Why so many consider it vile and think it should be stopped. “Hate speech” is intended to cause violence. Those like Williams who would defend it are being supported by those who wish to cause violence.

While it is true many naïve youngsters on campus will become liberal robots, not a good thing, many will also go on to become corporate conservative toadies, like those at Fox News, and others will become the over-paid puppets of hate mongers, like Williams, just another smug, self-righteous critic, from both left and right, of what takes place on our college campuses.

While Williams is free to express himself, he should be reminded of the many who, speaking freely in this manner, were being tapped on the shoulder before being shot, hung, imprisoned, or were gleefully falling to their knees to new totalitarian masters — like those he encourages and works for.